Nothing soothes the soul like chicken soup, no matter what country or culture you identify with. My version of Mexican chicken soup includes hominy and barley for a unique spin on this typical dish.

My suegro loves the sopa de pollo from this place in Mexico City called el Ricón de la Lechuza, which has been around since 1971. What makes La Lechuza’s chicken soup different than most others is that in addition to the traditional homemade broth, carrots and celery, barley (called “cebada” in Spanish) lends a unique texture and adds to the nutritional profile of the dish.

Pozole rojo is a hearty classic Mexican soup or stew, traditionally made with pork broth, pork, hominy, and spices, then topped with garnishes such as lime juice, radishes, onion, lettuce and more. It’s a popular traditional dish served throughout the country that is representative of Mexican cuisine.

This post is part of a compensated campaign with Teasdale Foods. All opinions and the recipe here are my own.

I admit that pozole can be an intimidating dish to make at home, mostly because making the perfect pork broth can be tough to match when you’re up against the memory of a beloved family member’s recipe. But I’ve found an awesome semi-homemade cheat for pozole that’s simple to prepare and easy to love!

I’ve used Teasdale’s new Easy Prep Spicy Red Pozole in this recipe, which is basically just cheating at the broth and hominy preparation—the two factors that often scare people away from making this traditional dish at home if they don’t have a trusted family recipe.

What’s great about it also is that you can choose what kind of meat you want to add; I’ve chosen boneless country pork ribs because they’re easy to find, usually have a mix of dark and light meat, and they cook to tender perfection in a slow-cooker. Nothing beats low and slow, especially when there’s minimal effort involved.

The majority of the prep time for this recipe is for slicing and dicing your garnishes. I’ve also doctored the pozole to my personal taste by cooking the pork with bay leaves and Mexican oregano, and adding more chiles to the broth. The slow-cooker also means that most of the cooking is hands-off so you can be doing something else!

Pozole is a prehispanic dish that has been enjoyed in Mexico for many generations dating at least all the way back to the times of Moctezuma in the latter part of the 1400s, and the preparation still used and served today goes back to the 18th Century, according to culinary historians.

The three main types of pozole you’ll find all throughout Mexico are pozole blanco, pozole verde and pozole rojo. In Mexico City, where our family is from, you can find many varieties of the three typical colors of pozole served all over the city, including more than a dozen regional varieties from all over the country. And, they can have pork, chicken, shrimp, or be vegetarian-friendly, too. You can find pozole served everywhere from dedicated pozolerías to markets, fondas and even some high-end restaurants that serve traditional Mexican cuisine.

This recipe is most similar to Jalisco-style red pozole, and I’ve added a few extra ancho chiles to the broth for a deeper chile flavor. I like my red pozole fairly spicy, but you can leave them out if you’re not accustomed to spicy pozole. But if you do want to incorporate more heat, you can also puree the extra chiles with a little broth once hydrated, then strain them into the soup, or just add a sprinkle of ground chile piquin when serving.

Take care not to overcook the hominy, as it can become mushy. (When in doubt, you can always remove the hominy a little early and put it on the side while your broth is still cooking in the slow-cooker. You’ll know the hominy is done when it looked bloomed or fluffy.) Pozole reheats well and can also be frozen. If the broth is thicker than you’d like, you can also thin it out with a bit of chicken broth.

Do you like pozole rojo or pozole blanco better? Let me know why in the comments!

Slow-cooker pozole rojo

Prep30mins

Cook4hours, 30mins

Total4hours, 60mins

AuthorMaura Wall Hernandez

Yield6-8servings

Pozole rojo is a classic Mexican soup or stew, traditionally made with pork broth, pork, hominy, and spices, then topped with garnishes such as lime juice, radishes, onion, lettuce and more. It's a popular traditional dish served throughout the country that is representative of Mexican cuisine.

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless country pork ribs (preferably with some dark meat and either a little fat marble or visible fat)

Notes

Orejas, also known as palmiers, are a puff pastry cookie and kind of pan dulce commonly found in panaderías all over Mexico.

Pan dulce was made popular during the French occupation in the mid 1800s, and as Mexican President Porfirio Díaz was considered to be a Francophile, French influence on Mexico’s gastronomy was allowed to grow from the time Díaz first took control as president in 1880 and flourish into the early 1900s.

In 1911, Díaz left Mexico to live in exile in Paris when Madero became president; he would live there for four years before he died in 1915. And although Díaz died in exile, the French pastries and sweet breads adopted by Mexico morphed into uniquely Mexican creations, with a variety of shapes, textures and creative names that still exist today.

Pan dulce can encompass pastries, sweet breads and even cookies. Other popular kinds of pan dulce include conchas (circular sweet rolls with a sugary, crunchy, crumbly topping made of flour, confectioners’ sugar and butter or vegetable shortening, and shaped to resemble a seashell), sweet empanadas, mantecadas (similar to pound cake, and shaped like muffins or mini loaves), cuernitos (croissants), and puerquitos or marranitos (pig-shaped cookies). Of course, these are only a few of the most popular and common kinds of pan dulce. Some types have a directly translated name from the original French name, but others have more creative names in Spanish.

Orejas are a staple at my house and I often make a batch to enjoy with a cup of coffee throughout the week, to take to work for a breakfast meeting, or when I need to drop off something easy for a bake sale or party. Some of my other favorite variations include churros, garibaldi, and rieles (mini strudels with a fruit or cheese filling and coarse-grain sanding sugar).

Orejas are made by spreading cinnamon sugar on both sides of a sheet of puff pastry, then rolling the puff pastry with a rolling pin to press the cinnamon sugar into the pastry. Then, the pastry is folded and sliced, and baked at a high temperature so the sugar caramelizes and creates a sort of glassy sugar glaze on the pastry dough.

Although every Mexican panadería is a little different, it’s guaranteed you’ll always find orejas. But you’ll feel like a fancy pastry chef and a little bit like a rock star when you make them on your own—and you’re likely to impress people who have no idea how easy they are to make!

Ingredients

Instructions

Line a large cutting board with parchment paper and unfold the puff pastry sheet to defrost for about 45 minutes to an hour.

When pastry is defrosted, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread about ¼ cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture on it, roughly in the shape of the puff pastry.

Transfer the defrosted puff pastry to the baking sheet on top of the cinnamon sugar and peel the parchment paper off the other side. Spread the remaining ¼ cup of cinnamon sugar liberally over the top of the puff pastry.

Use a rolling pin to gently roll out the puff pastry both horizontally and vertically, which will cement the sugar into the pastry.

Fold the puff pastry inward from the edges to meet in the middle. Then fold again, in half. With a sharp knife, cut half-inch slices and transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 5-7 minutes on one side, remove from oven and flip orejas with a spatula, and bake for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Notes

Recipe prep and cook time does NOT include 45-60 minutes of inactive prep to defrost frozen puff pastry sheets.

Chicken tinga, also known as tinga poblana or tinga de pollo, is a flavorful, authentic Mexican dish that you can get on the dinner table in less than an hour.

There are a few key ingredients to this recipe that help you get it on the table quickly: Store-bought rotisserie chicken, tomato sauce and canned diced tomatoes. Like many traditional Mexican dishes, tomatoes are an important flavor as the base of this recipe.And if you shred the chicken in advance or have some help shredding it, you’ll really have dinner ready in no time!

This post is part of a compensated campaign in collaboration with Hunt’s and Latina Bloggers Connect. All opinions and the recipe are my own.

This tangy, slightly spicy, stewed dish originally comes from the state of Puebla and is sometimes also made with shredded beef or pork instead of chicken. Ingredients in this dish can sometimes vary slightly from family to family, but most recipes have a tomato base, call for chorizo and fresh tomatillos—all of which, when combined, lend a little umami flavor and texture to this popular dish.

Cooking with fresh, natural and quality ingredients to feed my family is very important to me and I know it’s important to you, too. I’ve used Hunt’s tomato sauce and canned tomatoes in my kitchen for several years because they’re grown in California, canned within hours of being picked, have no artificial preservatives and are 100 percent natural, so I feel good about feeding my family with healthy, natural ingredients in my recipes that call for tomatoes when they’re out of season or I don’t have time to make tomato sauce from scratch.

Paired with chipotles in adobo sauce and fresh onion, garlic, and spices you surely already keep in your pantry, this dish is sure to become a family favorite if it isn’t already a dish you eat regularly.

And the bonus? You really only need to dirty one pan to make it!

Tinga is commonly served on top of tostadas with garnishes such as crema mexicana, avocado, shredded lettuce and queso fresco. Tinga can also be served on its own with a side of rice, as tacos or inside of a quesadilla (sometimes known as tingadillas).

Instructions

Cook 6-7 ounces of chorizo in a frying pan. Drain grease from cooked chorizo on

While the chorizo is cooking, hand-shred rotisserie chicken until you have four cups and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, combine cooked chorizo, diced white onion and garlic. Sautee until the onion starts to turn transparent, about 5-7 minutes.

In a blender or a small food processor, add 1 ¼ cups Hunt’s tomato sauce, 2 chipotle chiles and 6 tablespoons of adobo sauce from the canned chipotles in adobo. Puree until completely smooth.

Pour the tomato sauce mixture into the skillet and reduce the heat to low. Add 1 cup of Hunt’s petite diced tomatoes, Mexican oregano, thyme, marjoram, freshly ground pepper and tuck two bay leaves into the skillet so they’re submerged in the sauce. Stir to incorporate all ingredients.

Add shredded chicken and fresh tomatillo wedges and stir to coat. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until chicken is completely heated through and the sauce has reduced slightly.

Remove from heat and serve.

Notes

Serve on top of tostadas with crema mexicana and avocado (as pictured in this recipe); or with a side of rice, as tacos or inside of a quesadilla (known as tingadillas).

Día de los Muertos is the perfect time of year for Mexican hot chocolate. This recipe is a twist on the classic plain chocolate caliente; it’s spiced with chile guajillo, which lends a mildly spicy flavor and an earthy and fruity bouquet to this traditional beverage.

There’s an easy way to keep guacamole fresh and green—without using the pit, adding too much salt, covering it with water, milk or any of the other “tricks” you might find with a quick Google search. If you’ve ever woofed down a whole bowl of guacamole just to keep it from going brown in the refrigerator, your life is about to be changed. I promise this tip is the green-guacamole-for-days jackpot!

My family is always asking me to make guacamole. Always. I make it for parties and barbecues, when people casually drop by and even when somebody calls and asks, “if I drop off the ingredients, will you make it for me?” My dad is by far the biggest culprit of the weekend phone call requesting a drive-by guacamole drop-off. I used to tease him that if it weren’t for the guacamole, he wouldn’t stop by as often.

But with a jam-packed schedule and some travel time occasionally involved on one or both ends to get the ingredients and then deliver the goods to their final destination, it’s not always easy to make the guacamole and deliver and serve it right away. Yet, nobody would ever know that it’s usually been in the refrigerator for a full day beforehand because my guacamole always arrives perfectly green and fresh as if I just made it.

I’m going to reveal a method and kitchen tip that is going to turn you into a guacamole hero. But be warned; I can’t be held responsible if friends and family start calling to drop off ingredients because you earn a reputation for having the greenest guacamole they’ve ever seen!

HOW TO KEEP YOUR GUACAMOLE FRESH AND GREEN

STEP 1: Choose avocados that are barely ripe. They should give only very slightly when you press the skin. Prep all the ingredients (onion, chile, lime, tomato, cilantro, etc.) before you cut the avocados open. The flesh should not be too creamy/soft when you open them and you shouldn’t find brown or dark spots on the flesh at all.

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¡Bienvenidos!

Hi, I'm Maura Hernández. Welcome to my kitchen! I'm an award-winning food and travel blogger, recipe developer, and journalist sharing my passion for all things Mexico. Married to a Chilango, I've traveled Mexico extensively for the last decade. On The Other Side of The Tortilla, you'll find a mix of traditional and modern Mexican cooking, along with my advice on where to eat, stay and play on your visit to Mexico! READ MORE ABOUT ME...

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